


Hallucinations

by silencedancer



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan)
Genre: Arkham Asylum, Gen, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-26
Updated: 2007-07-26
Packaged: 2017-10-04 08:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silencedancer/pseuds/silencedancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crane has conversations with himself and he starts testing his first fear toxin on a hapless patient at Arkham Asylum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hallucinations

**Author's Note:**

> Has a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks a dog told him to kill people, and uh, imagery of blood. Yes, I know at this point he'd probably be medicated (the patient), but Arkham Asylum doesn't really take care of their patients very well. Also, this is pre-movie.

"He's already a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic," said Doctor Jonathan Crane to himself as he walked down the dim corridors of Arkham Asylum. "The only thing that formula 1-A will probably do to him is make him worse."

"And that's why he should be our first subject! No one will notice that he's worse—well, they will, but they won't see it as anything _odd_," said the voice that lived in Jonathan's head. Jonathan shook his head—whether to rid his mind of the voice or to say no, he did not know.

"Even so, how would we even _know_ it was affecting him? After all, this is a man who believes that his neighbor's dog appeared to him with its muzzle covered in blood and told him to kill all the inhabitants of his apartment building. He's already paranoid enough, Scarecrow," muttered Jonathan as he glanced around the dark corridor, hoping that none of the other psychologists had decided to work a late night as well. Luckily he had seen no one else all night other than a sleeping security guard who he had already paid to look the other way and a night nurse who preferred to stay in her station than interact with the inmates.

"It won't hurt to try. Come on, aren't you curious what goes on in the mind of a serial killer, especially what they fear?" Scarecrow giggled in Jonathan's mind and in response, Jonathan moved his hand over his right shoulder as if to swat a fly.

"Shut up, we're almost there," whispered Jonathan as he nervously handled the syringe in his pocket. This was his first time testing one of his compounds on a patient and he did not want to be caught by any of his co-workers who would look down on his actions as unethical.

"Unethical to them that is…," said Scarecrow, sensing Jonathan's fears. Jonathan didn't bother to respond and Scarecrow continued, "They're just worthless criminals—perfect guinea pigs for our work. No one will care about what happens to them, especially the murderers."

Jonathan muttered, "That's what the Nuremburg Code was created to prevent…" Yet he continued to walk down the hallway to the door of the serial killer's cell despite his misgivings. He didn't know exactly why he followed Scarecrow's demands and because of this he feared that he wasn't much different from the inmates of the asylum, but he also knew that Scarecrow was him instead of an outside delusion.

And then he was there in front of a locked door with the patient's file in his hands. He peered at the papers in the dim yellow light of the hallway and sighed. "As sad as I am to say it, I think he'll work for our purposes tonight. He's already restrained even." Jonathan closed the manila folder, but in doing so, he accidentally cut his finger on the folder's edge. Startled by his sudden shout of "ow!", Jonathan swore before he pulled out a band aid from his pocket to cover his paper cut.

"Good thing I brought more than one band aid," muttered Jonathan as he pulled out a set of keys from his coat pocket and unlocked Dan Langdon's door. As he entered the room, Langdon looked up at Jonathan and muttered something that the doctor couldn't make out.

"Hello there Mr. Langdon, how are you tonight?" Jonathan smiled gently at the straight-jacketed Langdon who only looked back at Jonathan with a blank stare.

"Fluffy told me that a straw man follows you, Dr. Crane," said Langdon in a monotone voice as he continued to stare blankly at Jonathan. Ignoring the chill that ran up his spine, Jonathan pulled out the syringe in his pocket and thought about where best to inject the formula, finally deciding on the man's shoulder as that was one of the few places where he could expose the man's skin without removing the straight-jacket.

"Your neighbor's toy poodle couldn't possibly know anything about me," muttered Jonathan as he prepared the needle and cleaned the patch of skin where the injection would take place. "This will only hurt a bit…," whispered Jonathan as he injected his fear toxin into the man's blood. After placing a band aid on the small bead of blood that was already forming at the injection site and placing the needle in a sharps container outside the cell, Jonathan waited for the effects of formula 1-A to start in the patient.

It did not take long and the effects were dramatic. Langdon screamed as he stared at Jonathan, muttering about blood stains on the straw man behind the doctor. Jonathan quickly stepped back from the madman and said, "How can you see him?!"

"Like sees like, good doctor," said Langdon, his voice shaking and now staring wide-eyed, not at Jonathan, but over the psychiatrist's right shoulder. "He's a scary sort of guy, isn't he, doctor?" Langdon started to shake and Jonathan started to feel strange as he watched the man become controlled by his fears.

"What do you see Daniel? Tell Scarecrow all about it," said Jonathan in a sickly sweet voice that was not his own and he was Jonathan and not-Jonathan at the same time.

"I-I see you," said Langdon, averting his from the not-Jonathan's eyes, "You're the straw man."

The not-Jonathan giggled and leaned in close to Langdon's face, "Name's Scarecrow. Surprised you can see me—most can't. Can you tell me what I look like, little Danny boy?" Scarecrow grinned widely as Langdon cried out in fear.

"I-I-I see you wearing tattered and old clothes, dirt, and dried blood. You're a wild one," Langdon started to shake uncontrollably and he closed his eyes tight as he tried to struggle out of the straight-jacket.

"Do you see your little demonic toy poodle friend around, Langdon?" said Scarecrow as he stood back from the patient.

Langdon stared at Scarecrow and said, "No. You scare her."

Scarecrow clapped his hands together gleefully and grinned. "You're cured then!" said Scarecrow and then he giggled. "Perhaps I'll haunt your nightmares now instead of Fluffy! Wouldn't that be lovely? Oh and perhaps you're wondering where all this blood has come from. Are you wondering if I've killed someone?" Langdon, now unable to speak because of fear, nodded.

"Well, I've only really killed one or two people—don't recall if one survived or not, but that was accidental really and okay maybe the food poisoning granny died of was my fault, but it isn't their blood on me at all. It's my own blood, sir serial killer. Well, it's really both mine and Jonathan's, but it only shows on me 'cause I take all the pain and injury from the bullying he's endured and I've taken a lot of damage and all that damage has driven me a bit…insane may we say?" Scarecrow giggled. "Sometimes because of all of it I just want to hurt others like they've hurt me in the past and you might be a fun one because no one will believe you because you're a crazy just like I am, but no one knows that I'm crazy, they just see Jonathan. So, I'm going to have a bit of fun."

And soon Langdon would not stop screaming about the straw man covered in his own dried blood as Jonathan Crane stepped out of the cell, locked the door, adjusted his tie, and smirked to himself as he calmly went to retrieve the night shift nurse to help him with the psychotic patient.


End file.
